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Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Chinese Ambassador Publishes 70th Anniversary Article in Lithuanian Media

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On October 1, 2019, in Lithuania, Chinese Ambassador Shen Zhifei (申知非) published a signed article titled “Seventy Years of Glory Forge the Dream of Prosperity and Strong Nation” (七十年辉煌铸就富民强国梦) in major Lithuanian media outlets including Lietuvos Rytas. The ambassador penned the article to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC and promote “mutual benefit and win-win cooperation” (互利共赢). He also touted bilateral trade achievements, and positioned Lithuania as a partner in Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative (一带一路) as well as the China-Central and Eastern European Collaboration framework (中国—中东欧国家合作). Shen described growing Lithuanian participation in China’s import expo and cultural exchanges as evidence of deepening “friendship” (友谊), arguing both nations shared common aspirations as “dream chasers in the new era.” The article employed standard PRC diplomatic terminology about building a “community with shared future for mankind.”

Chinese Embassy in Lithuania

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The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Lithuania (中华人民共和国驻立陶宛共和国大使馆) was established following the restoration of diplomatic relations between China and Lithuania in September 1991, after Lithuania regained independence from the Soviet Union. Located in Vilnius, the embassy served as Beijing’s primary diplomatic mission for bilateral relations, consular services, trade promotion, and cultural exchanges between the two nations. Since 2021, operations have been severely disrupted following Lithuania’s decision to host the Taiwanese Representative Office (台湾代表处) using Taiwan’s name rather than Taipei. Beijing downgraded ties and renamed its mission a Chargé d’Affaires Office (临时代办处), which Lithuania refuses to recognize. As of June 2025, no Chinese diplomats remain accredited in Lithuania after three staff expelled.

China Funds Tanzania’s Excellence in Journalism Awards

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On May 12, 2018, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the Media Council of Tanzania and Embassy of China co-sponsored the ninth Excellence in Journalism Awards Tanzania ceremony at Golden Tulip Hotel, with guest of honor Professor Issa Shivji and organizing committee chairman Kajubi Mukajanga attending alongside partners including Tanzania Revenue Authority, World Wildlife Fund, Tanzania Breweries Limited, and HakiElimu among others. The Media Council of Tanzania’s annual report lists the Embassy of China as the lead partner among sponsors who “made EJAT 2017 possible,” indicating direct Chinese funding of the journalism awards program.

Chinese Embassy in Tanzania

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The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Tanzania is China’s chief diplomatic mission to the United Republic of Tanzania, located in Dar es Salaam. The mission’s origins trace to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and Tanzania on April 26, 1964, when the newly formed United Republic of Tanzania (created from the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar) extended diplomatic ties with Beijing, making Tanzania among the earliest African nations to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China during the Cold War era. The embassy is currently located in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with China also maintaining a consulate-general in Zanzibar.

Minsk News Agency

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The Minsk News Agency (明斯克新聞社), or Minsk-Novosti, is a Belarusian media organization headquartered in Minsk, claiming to provide news and information services. Online archives suggest the agency has operated since around February 2009. Key personnel include Andrei Krivosheev, who serves as general director and describes himself as a political and social observer, author and presenter of television projects for Belarusian State TV and Radio Company. The organization positions itself as a news agency operating within Belarus’s media landscape and has engaged in international partnerships, including cooperation agreements with Chinese provincial media organizations such as Gansu Province’s communication center. Krivosheev has been identified by Polish security services as actively supporting the Lukashenko regime and is included on international sanctions lists, with Polish authorities citing his activities as posing security risks due to his support for the current Belarusian government amid regional conflicts. The agency operates within the broader framework of Belarus’s state-controlled media environment, where independent journalism faces significant restrictions.

Propaganda Office of the Gansu Provincial Committee of the CCP

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The Propaganda Office of the Gansu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (中共甘肅省委宣傳部) serves as the chief office responsible for communicating the agendas of the provincial party leadership and overseeing state-run media in Gansu Province, including the mouthpiece newspaper Gansu Daily (甘肅日報). It coordinates party ideological work throughout the province while simultaneously operating under multiple official names, allowing it to exercise comprehensive control over news, publishing, and cultural production. The department functions as the central enforcer of the party’s media discipline, ensuring all local outlets maintain proper political orientation in line with central and provincial level directives. 

Gansu International Communication Center

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The Gansu International Communication Center (甘肅國際傳播中心) is a media organization established on August 29, 2022, directly under the supervision of the Propaganda Office of the Gansu Provincial Committee of the CCP (中共甘肅省委宣傳部) — and sponsored by the Gansu Daily Media Group (甘肅日報報業集團). The ICC is part of a national strategy under Xi Jinping since 2018, accelerating from 2021, to enhance China’s global communication strategy by leveraging local and regional media assets. GICC’s overseas media accounts include the Facebook accounts “Gansu Flavor,” “Gansu Focus” and possibly also “HiGansu,” as well as the X account “Explore Gansu.”

Belarus-Gansu Media Platform Launch Builds on ICC Office Formation

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On May 20-25, 2025, in Gansu Province (甘肅省), Andrei Krivosheyev, chairman of the Belarusian Union of Journalists (白俄羅斯記者聯盟) and chairman of the Board of Directors of Minsk News Agency (明斯克新聞社), led a Belarusian media delegation visiting to examine Gansu’s economic and social development and inspect projects in culture, new energy, environmental protection, international logistics, and water-saving agriculture. Building on cooperation established in 2023 when the province’s Gansu International Communication Center (甘肅省國際傳播中心), or GICC, opened an office in the Belarus Journalists Union, the delegation met with Gansu Daily (甘肅日報) newspaper representatives and launched a new media platform for “information exchange,” with attendees including China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (中華人民共和國外交部) representatives, local government officials, and All-China Journalists Association (中華全國新聞工作者協會) Vice President Li Xiaojun (李曉軍). The organizations claimed the visit would “comprehensively promote and report on new achievements of Chinese-style modernization practice in Gansu” and explore cooperation to jointly tell “Silk Road stories” and “China-Belarus friendship stories” (中白友好故事) within “all-weather and all-round Belarus-China strategic partnership” frameworks. 

SCO Media Summit Establishes Cooperation Framework

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On July 23-27, 2024, in Zhengzhou, China, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (上海合作组织) hosted a media and think tank summit featuring Dmitry Zhuk, director of Belarus’s “Belarus Today” publishing house, alongside Chinese officials and regional media representatives. The summit produced the “Zhengzhou Consensus” (郑州共识), with participants claiming the gathering would “explore optimal solutions to external challenges” and establish “more effective international information cooperation paradigms” (更加有效的国际信息合作新范式). Zhuk praised the summit’s “fruitful results” and emphasized combating disinformation while promoting “mutual respect principles” and “civilizational diversity” (文明多样性). The initiative positions itself as implementing “Shanghai Spirit” (上海精神) values in media cooperation, though the emphasis on geopolitics and strategic information coordination suggests soft power objectives rather than independent media and think tank collaboration.